Montgomery County in Pictures

Local News

Richard Shemer. COURTESY PHOTO A Montgomery County judge that struck a child sex abuse conviction from a former high school teacher's criminal record, will also allow the teacher to remove his name from the state's sex offender registry.
Circuit Court Judge David A. Boynton on Sept. 15 provided former Albert Einstein High School teacher Richard Shemer the written consent needed to legally remove his name.
"Mr. Shemer is no longer required to register as a sex offender and shall be removed from the Sex Offender Registry list," Boynton's court order read.
Montgomery County State's Attorney spokesman Ramon Korionoff said there is no avenue of appeal for the state prosecutor's office. "It is at the discretion of the judge," Korionoff said.

Just two weeks since Amazon asked states and counties to bid for its second headquarters—a project that could mean 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment to the winning locality—Montgomery County and competitors all around the country were busy putting their proposals together.
Seattle-based Amazon asked for bids on Sept. 7, and gave just six weeks for initial proposals due Oct. 19. From those, Amazon will select finalists to compete for the prize with fully-specified bids.
According to the Seattle Times, more than 100 cities/counties and states/provinces in the U.S. and Canada are putting together proposals. Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener said at this early stage in the process, “Every city is on an equal playing field.” He indicated the company will choose finalists from the initial applicants, and will select a winner next year.
Even within the state of Maryland and the D.C. area, Montgomery County faces substantial competition. On Sept. 13, Gov. Larry Hogan threw his support to a bid to bring the Amazon project to Port Covington in Baltimore, a site owned by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and investment firm Goldman Sachs. Hogan said he would personally lobby Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on behalf of the Baltimore bid.

Laura Elizabeth Wallen FILE PHOTO
Prosecutors in the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office are determining whether a 33-year-old Damascus man charged with killing his girlfriend Labor Day weekend can also be charged with killing the woman’s unborn child.
Olney resident Laura Elizabeth Wallen, 31, was four months pregnant when she was killed, family members said. The Damascus man accused of her murder, Tyler Tessier, 33, is believed to be the father.
Montgomery County Police charged Tessier Sept. 13 with the first-degree murder of Wallen. If Tessier is found guilty, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, the Montgomery County state prosecutor's office has not ruled out requesting a sentence that would allow for consideration of parole.
"We have not made that decision yet," Korionoff said.

State News

Last week, Gov. Larry Hogan decided to remove the statue that stands outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis of Roger B. Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice infamous for the majority opinion he wrote in the Dred Scott decision.
“While we cannot hide from our history – nor should we – the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history,” Hogan said in a statement. “With that in mind, I believe removing the Justice Roger B. Taney statue from the State House grounds is the right thing to do, and we will ask the State House Trust to take that action immediately."

Brian Crider. COURTESY PHOTO Brian Crider, a computer scientist, says he was compelled to run for the House of Delegates in District 19 because of his concern for Maryland and his background in activism.
“I’ve been an activist for many years, and we’re just not making the progress we need,” said Crider. “I feel like we can do more, so my goal is to make Maryland better.”
Crider, a Democrat, says that part of what he hopes to do if elected is make people aware of resources that can help them. However, he also has a lot of ideas for things he wants to change.

David Trone speaks at a Smokey Glen Barbecue. PHOTO BY CAROLYN KOMATSOULIS At a barbecue at Smokey Glen to promote his run for the 6th congressional district, David Trone called to mind his simple farm beginnings and progressive ideas in the hopes of his message resonating with Maryland voters.
“You know I’m in a farm, we learned a couple of things, most important thing is hard work,” said Trone. “What we do on that farm, whether it was shoveling chicken manure, literally 13 tons of manure every day, that would be good practice in Washington.”
“We also did a lot of time feeding hogs. That could be good practice in Washington too,” said Trone.

Blocking people on Facebook comes back to haunt governor and county takes notice
ROCKVILLE – Members of the Montgomery County Council say they’re taking notice after the American Civil Liberties Union…

Kensington resident, state senator and vocal critic of the incumbent governor Richard Madaleno announced his candidacy for governor of Maryland on Monday.
Madaleno, if elected, would be the first openly gay…

The first availability of Maryland-licensed medical marijuana appears likely to be in November, a couple months later than the state government’s earlier forecast of “late summer.”
On July 6, Gov. Larry…

Columns

I woke up in one of “those” moods.What kind of mood do you ask? Well, I guess somewhere between “Come on people now, smile on your brothers, everybody get together try to love one another right now,” written by Chet Powers and famously recorded by the Youngbloods and H.L. Mencken’s feelings about religion: “In America it is used as a club and a cloak by both politicians and moralists, all of them lusting for power and most of them palpable frauds.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders walked out to the podium twice this week and once again spread a false narrative about former FBI Director James Comey. She accused him of illegally leaking information to the public when she and everyone in the present administration have absolutely no proof of it – and in fact have absolute proof that when Comey leaked memos he wasn’t leaking classified information and therefore he didn’t do anything illegal.It doesn’t matter. The President’s base will buy it. They’ll believe it. They’ll endorse it. They will repeat it. They will cheer it and they will yell “Fake News” at anyone who says otherwise.

There is little doubt the Metrorail system is in desperate need of repair.Despite a “Safetrack” plan by Metro to bring Metro “Back 2 Good” and despite all the inhouse ads on Metro touting its increased efforts to fix escalators, tracks, bring new metro rail cars online and clean up the metro stations, the federal government recently outlined more than 100 deficiencies the system still faces.We at The Sentinel decided it was best since our readers are some of the most frequent Metro riders as they go to and from work, to take a close look at the Metro system.

Sports

Josh Doctson scores first career touchdown for the Redskins, who win Sunday night against the Oakland Raiders. COURTESY PHOTO BY REGGIE HILDRED LANDOVER – A big performance from quarterback Kirk Cousins sparked the Washington Redskins to a 27-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders Sunday night before a national television audience and 77,123 spectators at FedEx Field.
During the postgame news conference, Cousins, who completed 25-of-30 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns, was asked about his proudest moments throughout the game.
“I think the fact that we had a complete game,” said Cousins. “Any time you start fast, you know it’s up and down, plays happen, you can easily give the ball back. You can have a bad decision here or there and miss the read. The fact that it was a full four quarter performance – I felt that was outstanding.”

ROCKVILLE - The Rockville Rams defeated the James H. Blake Bengals boys varsity soccer team 3-1 at home Monday.
The Rams dominated possession during the first half and found the net before the break. The home team continued its momentum scoring two second-half goals before conceding a penalty to the Bengals.
“We did well out, first team did well, captains got the leadership, we could have scored more, but I’m happy just go with the win,” said Rockville coach Julio Zarate.

WJ Wildcats' Isaiah Baker scores. His team would shut out the Kennedy Cavaliers, 20-0. PHOTO BY MARK POETKER SILVER SPRING- The Kennedy Cavaliers’ hope of a win streak was dashed Saturday, as the Walter Johnson Wildcats shut them out 20-0.
Although the Cavaliers had broken their long-running losing streak last week, they did not eke out a win against a stable Wildcats squad that took advantage of the Cavaliers’ inexperience.

Cast members rehearse for the Open Circle Theatre Retrospective. COURTESY PHOTO Rob McQuay’s formal theater experience began in junior high.
He acted through high school and college, then trained at Studio Theatre. He performed in area dinner theaters and several professional ones, including Montgomery County’s Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, and Imagination Stage.
“It’s a full-time thing,” said McQuay.
Next, he is headlining “To Reach the Unreachable Star: an Open Circle Theatre Retrospective,” a 90-minute stage performance filled with song, dance, and humor to familiarize audiences with its work and raise funds to support it.

J. McAndrew Breen stars as scheming playwright Sidney Bruhl in Ira Levin’s Broadway hit "Deathtrap" at Silver Spring Stage. COURTESY PHOTO
Montgomery Playhouse, an all-volunteer theater, has a varied season ahead.
First up in 2017-2018 is “The Canterville Ghost,” a play Marisha Chamberlain adapted from the short story by Oscar Wilde.
In January, the Playhouse presents “The Reluctant Dragon,” a comedy for young audiences, and, in March, a Live Radio Show recreates the Austin Blackie Radio Series of the 1940s and ‘50s.
“Our mandate is to entertain and educate audiences,” said Loretto McNally, board president.

The Comcast Xfinity Outdoor Film Festival returns to Strathmore. COURTESY PHOTO “Blockbuster” describes the movies presented each summer in the Comcast Xfinity Outdoor Film Festival and hosted at Strathmore…

After delays local leaders celebrate Purple Line construction
Gov. Larry Hogan and U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao at the Purple Line groundbreaking. PHOTO BY JACQUI SOUTH HYATTSVILLE –…

The County-hired consulting firm that conducted a study on raising the minimum wage in Montgomery County said it made a mistake when calculating the results.
“Obviously we take full responsibility for…